


Something to Hide Behind

by Enderon



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, in which i hyper analze a characters facial expressions, whooP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 03:04:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7784227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enderon/pseuds/Enderon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scanlan was a man who always had a smile on his face, no matter the situation. This made it seem as though nothing touched him, as though he was invincible. But his family came to know better. They came to recognize the signs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something to Hide Behind

Vax’ildan could recognize that mischievous grin from a mile away, and instantly knew to expect trouble not far off in the future. For when the corner of Scanlan’s mouth turned up at the corner, it meant he was ready to play. And Scanlan’s version of play, was usually at somebody else’s expense. Which meant that Vax needed to hurry to join him, so as not to end up the target himself.

  
There was a special smile Scanlan got when he was angry. Though Keyleth would not so much call it a smile as it was a smirk of sorts. It wasn’t much different than the look he got when he wanted to play around, but when he was angry, his eye brows would raise and he would look at the offender as if a moron. Keyleth knew this look as she herself had received it once or twice in the past. It was not a fun expression to receive, a look that made you feel inferior in every possible way. Thankfully, that look had not been directed at her in a long time, and had instead been directed at those who would speak against her. A bad word in her direction, and the bard’s mouth curled and his eyebrows raised, and he looked superior to the world.

  
Percy had memorized the remnants of a grin on Scanlan’s face as the tiny gnome through his precious gun into the acid pit. He had memorized the wobbly look and the almost unnoticeable quiver to his lip, right before he dashed to the safety of Grog’s shoulders. In memorizing it, Percy had come to see that same wobbly grin many more times. Most often it came out in battles, especially when the odds were not in their favor. But he caught it outside of combat a few times as well, specifically right after the defeat of Kevdak, before Scanlan and Vax went on their little ‘errand’. The bard spoke of going into the sewers to find his daughter, and Percy recognized the familiar, frightened quiver in his lip. Percy had memorized that look when it was aimed at him, now vowing to never be the cause of it again.

  
As a sad person herself, Vex could easily tell when the joy drained from Scanlan’s face. Though his smile still remained, there was no real life to it, the curve not reaching his eyes, his brows furrowed in a troubled way, and his brown eyes focusing on nothing in particular. It’s how she knew something had happened when he had that look on his face in the tavern as they said their goodbyes to Pike, right before venturing into the feywilds. He joked and laughed and spoke with everyone else, but his smile was not a happy one, and Vex knew it was more than just their cleric’s leaving that caused it. She may not have known exactly what happened, but she made sure to make herself a companion for the gnome, finding companionship in another’s attempts to hide the pain as she did herself.

  
Grog liked Scanlan a lot. Despite his small, 2 and a half foot height, he spoke like he was the barbarian’s size, which Grog could really respect. But for all his big words and sharpness of tongue, he was so rarely truly happy. Now Grog had never been the most observant of creatures, and he so rarely picked up on little details, but he prided himself in having learned how to read the gnome over the years. And in the time he’d known him, Grog figured out how to recognize when Scanlan was truly happy. People might have expected him to be happy drinking, or in brothels, or even relaying some fantastical tale of his ‘greatness’ to a crowd of lookers on. But Grog had realized, that the only times Scanlan was truly happy, was when it was just them, just Vox Machina, spending time together. He saw it in the way his smile lessened, in the way he looked so fondly at each member of the party, and in the way he laughed. It was not so much a laugh any more, as it was a low, affectionate chuckle. These were all signs Grog had come to recognize as true happiness in Scanlan Shorthalt. 

 

 

Pike knew all of Scanlan’s smiles, from his happiest to his saddest, she knew them all. She knew them all because many of them had been directed at her many a time. And for all the trouble they’d faced with their relationship, Pike loved each and every one, for they were Scanlan’s smiles, and she loved him dearly. But to see him without a smile crinkling his features, to see his eyes narrowed, his brows furrowed, and his mouth a flat line of concern, was the worst thing to experience. To see Scanlan in that situation, could send her heart plummeting. And when Scanlan turned to her, as the two kneeled beside the deceased Grog, taking her hand up with that look on his face to plead that she save their friend, she knew that the situation was dire. She knew that this, this was the worst situation, as she longed for Scanlan’s ever present smile to return and let her know that everything would be fine, that every was alright. But everything was not alright, and she knew for the bard was not smiling.


End file.
